JP3778083B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of ink jet heads face each other with a predetermined paper gap with respect to a print object set horizontally.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer, printing is performed by selectively ejecting ink droplets onto a print object by relative scanning and driving of an ink jet head. A predetermined gap, that is, a paper gap, is managed between the printing object and the inkjet head in order to accurately manage the flying bend and the landing diameter of the ink droplet.
On the other hand, in a large color printer or the like, a considerable number of ink jet heads are mounted due to the yield, and the plurality of ink jet heads are arranged on the head plate so that the mutual positional accuracy of each nozzle row and The mutual positional accuracy of the nozzle forming surfaces is managed with high accuracy.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a conventional large-sized ink jet recording apparatus, a head plate mounted with a plurality of ink jet heads becomes large and heavy, so that there is a risk that the parallelism and paper gap will be distorted over time. Further, when printing on a plurality of types of print objects having different thicknesses, it is necessary to adjust the paper gap.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of finely adjusting the parallelism and paper gap of a plurality of ink jet heads with respect to a printing object.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of ink jet heads facing a horizontally set printing object, a head plate on which a plurality of ink jet heads are arranged and arranged, a plate holder that supports the head plate, and a plate holder A first adjustment mechanism that is interposed between the head plate and the plate holder, can tilt the head plate with respect to the plate holder, and can be fixed at an arbitrary tilting position, and the plate holder and the bracket member. And a second adjustment mechanism that can tilt the plate holder with respect to the bracket member and can be fixed at an arbitrary tilting position. The first adjustment mechanism is a head plate, and the second adjustment mechanism is a plate holder. Through the head plate, one tilted to the X axis center and the other to the Y axis center Characterized in that to.
[0006]
According to this configuration, the head plate on which the inkjet head is mounted can be tilted at the X axis center and the Y axis center in the horizontal plane with respect to the plate holder and the bracket, and can be tilted and fixed arbitrarily, so-called front / rear / left / right tilt A plurality of inkjet heads can be set via the head plate in a state in which is finely adjusted.
[0007]
In this case, the head plate includes a plate main body that holds a plurality of ink jet heads, and a plate support frame that has an opening and the plate main body is mounted and fixed so that the ink nozzles of the ink jet head come to the openings. Thus, the first adjustment mechanism is preferably interposed between the plate support frame and the plate holder.
[0008]
According to this configuration, since the head plate on which the ink jet head is mounted is not directly processed, the head plate can be prevented from being distorted by the processing.
[0009]
In this case, the head plate is formed in a square shape, and the plate holder has a pair of left and right side plates that hold the head plate at the lower end, and a back plate that is spanned between the side plates and supported by the bracket member. The first adjustment mechanism includes a pair of pins that pass between the center positions of the left and right end faces of the plate support frame and the lower ends of both side plates, and screws that fix the plate support frame to both side plates. The second adjustment mechanism preferably includes a pin that is passed between the center position of the back plate and the bracket member, and a screw that fixes the back plate to the bracket member.
[0010]
According to this configuration, in the first adjustment mechanism, the head plate is tilted about the pair of pins that pass between the center positions of the left and right end faces of the plate support frame and the lower ends of both side plates, and the second adjustment mechanism Then, by tilting the head plate through the plate holder around the pin between the center position of the back plate and the bracket member, a plurality of inkjet heads (more precisely, the nozzle formation surface) and the printing object are separated. They can face each other in parallel. Then, by fastening the screws in this state, the plurality of adjusted inkjet heads can be fixed in an appropriate posture via the head plate.
[0011]
In this case, the plate holder has a pair of left and right side plates that hold the head plate at the lower end portion, and a back plate that is supported between the side plates and supported by the bracket member. It is preferable to further include a third adjusting mechanism that is interposed between the two side plates and that can slide both side plates in the vertical direction with respect to the back plate and can be fixed at an arbitrary sliding position.
[0012]
According to this configuration, in addition to the inkjet head and the object to be printed facing each other in parallel by the first and second adjustment mechanisms, both side plates are slid up and down with respect to the back plate and fixed at an arbitrary position. Therefore, the paper gap can be finely adjusted so as to obtain an optimum ink landing diameter according to the thickness of the printing object and the ink permeability.
[0013]
In this case, the third adjustment mechanism is formed with respect to the rear plate, a slide convex portion formed on each side plate and extending in the vertical direction, a pair of guide concave portions formed on the back plate and slidably engaged with both slide convex portions. It is preferable that the adjusting plate includes an adjusting screw for sliding both side plates and a screw for fixing both side plates to the back plate.
[0014]
According to this configuration, the third adjustment mechanism can slide both side plates up and down around the back plate, so that the optimum ink landing diameter is obtained according to the thickness of the printing object and the ink permeability. The paper gap between the plurality of inkjet heads and the printing object can be finely adjusted by adjusting the head plate by sliding the head plate up and down with adjustment screws via both side plates. In this state, the optimum paper gap state can be fixed with screws.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The ink jet printer of the embodiment is a large business color printer connected to an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer), and prints a desired image by an ink jet method based on image data created by the external device. To do. Specifically, an ink jet printer continuously prints a large number of unit images used as labels after being cut out on a printing tape, which is a continuous paper. For example, a label attached to a wrap film of fresh food Can be printed in small lots.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the overall configuration of the ink jet printer, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view from the back side of the ink jet printer with a partial configuration omitted.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 is configured by connecting a small finisher 3 to a large machine base 2, and a printing tape A installed on the machine base 2 is attached to the machine base 2 side. Printing means 5 for performing printing, tape supply means 6 for feeding and supplying the roll-shaped printing tape A protruding rightward from the machine base 2, and printing supplied along the tape feed path 4 that cuts the machine base 2 vertically A tape feeding means 7 for feeding the tape A is provided. On the finisher 3 side, a tape winding means 8 for winding the printed printing tape A received from the tape feeding means 7 in a roll shape is incorporated.
[0020]
Further, the machine base 2 is provided with an ink supply means 9 for supplying ink to the head unit 31 (inkjet head 34) of the printing means 5 and a maintenance means 10 for maintaining the ink jet head 34. A controller 11 (control means) for controlling the means individually and in association with each other is provided.
[0021]
The ink jet printer 1 sucks the roll-shaped printing tape A fed out horizontally via the suction table 141 of the tape feeding means 7, and drives the printing means 5 in this state to continuously print a large number of images thereon. At the same time, the printed portion is sent out from the suction table 141 at any time to perform the next continuous printing, and finally the printed tape A is printed by the tape winding means 8. The printing tape A is a roll paper with so-called release paper, and a plurality of types (11 types) of different widths are prepared with a tape width of 10 mm from a minimum of 50 mm to a maximum of 150 mm.
[0022]
Here, each means of the inkjet printer 1 will be briefly described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the printing means 5 includes a head unit 31 on which a large number of inkjet heads 34 are mounted, and an XY movement mechanism 42 that freely moves the head unit 31 in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. have. The XY movement mechanism 42 is a so-called XY robot. When the X / Y movement mechanism 42 moves the head unit 31 in the main scanning (X-axis) direction, printing is performed line by line, and printing ends. Then, the head unit 31 is moved in the sub scanning (Y axis) direction to the next line.
[0023]
With reference to FIG. 3, the movement operation of the head unit 31 during printing will be specifically described. When printing is started on the printing tape A on the suction table 141 with the upper left as the printing start position P1, the head unit 31 is moved from the position to the right (the forward movement direction in the main scanning) by a predetermined distance to move one line. Printing (main scanning) is performed, and the head unit 31 is moved to the front at the right end, thereby moving the head unit 31 to the second line (sub-scanning) and further moving the head unit 31 leftward (main scanning). The second line is printed (main scan) by moving in the backward movement direction in FIG. The operation is repeated in this way to print all lines (see FIG. 3B).
[0024]
For example, when printing is completed at the lower right position, the printing after the next tape feed moves the head unit 31 from the printing end position P2 toward the printing start position P1 in the reverse operation. Thus, all lines are printed (see FIG. 3C). Thereby, the movement loss of the head unit 31 is reduced. Note that the flushing of the inkjet head 31 is performed on the flushing box 111 at the left end during one round-trip (two-line printing).
[0025]
The tape supply unit 6 includes a supply reel 164 that rotatably supports the tape A wound in a roll shape, a supply roller 162 that supplies the tape A, and a supply motor 165 that rotationally drives the supply roller 162. . The supply motor 165 is connected to the controller 11, and the supply of the tape A is performed by the controller 11 controlling the supply motor and adjusting the rotation of the supply roller.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 1, the tape feeding means 7 is disposed along the tape feeding path 4 with the suction table 141 on the base plate 13 disposed substantially at the center of the tape feeding path 4 and the suction table 141 interposed therebetween. And a tape feeding mechanism 144 for feeding the printing tape A. The printing tape A is kept horizontal so that it does not float when each suction fan performs air suction through the suction holes 142 arranged on the staggered surface of the suction table 141. Then, a tape feed motor (not shown) of the tape feed mechanism 144 controlled by the controller 11 to rotate in synchronization with the head unit 31 rotates the tape feed roller 146 to increase the tape feed and stop of the printing tape A. Go to accuracy.
[0027]
The tape take-up means 8 is a tape take-up reel 151 rotatably supported by the take-up device main body 20, a take-up roller 152 positioned immediately above the tape take-up reel 151, and the take-up roller 152. A take-up motor (not shown), a take-up guide roller 154 that approaches and faces the take-up roller 152, a width restricting portion 155 that restricts the width direction of the printed printing tape A, and a take-up device body 20 and a presser roller 156 located between the machine base 2. The printed printing tape A sent from the tape feeding means 7 is guided to the width restricting portion 155 via the pressing roller 156, where the width guide for the tape winding is performed, and the tape take-up reel 151 is wound into a roll. (See Figure 1)
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2, the ink supply means 9 includes a main tank unit 61 that stores a large amount of each color ink, a sub tank unit 87 that supplies each color ink from the main tank unit 61 to each inkjet head 34, and these main tanks. The unit 61, the sub tank unit 87, and the tube unit 171 which connects the inkjet head 34 are provided.
[0029]
The main tank unit 61 includes an ink cartridge 62, a pressure tank 70 that detachably accommodates the ink cartridge 62, and an air supply mechanism that supplies pressurized air to the pressure tank 70. A plurality (six) of ink cartridges 62 and pressurized tanks 70 are provided for each color, while the air supply mechanism is a single unit.
[0030]
The sub tank unit 87 has an intermediate ink pack 89 functioning as an intermediate tank, a supply valve provided on the main tank unit 61 side of the intermediate ink pack 89, and a discharge valve provided on the inkjet head 34 side of the intermediate ink pack 89. However, six of these are provided.
[0031]
The tube unit 171 includes a plurality of hard tubes 172 that connect the main tank unit 61, the sub tank unit 87, and the inkjet head 34, and a tube holder 174 that holds the plurality of tubes 172.
[0032]
Ink supply is performed by the controller 11 controlling the opening and closing of the supply valve. When the supply valve of the sub tank unit 87 is opened, the ink in the ink cartridge 62 passes through the tube unit 171 due to the pressure in the pressurized tank 70. The sub tank unit 87 is pressurized and supplied.
[0033]
The maintenance means 10 shown in FIG. 1 cleans the inkjet head 34 by a manual operation or the like in order to eliminate nozzle clogging, in addition to a flushing box 111 that receives flushing ink, a storage unit 115 that stores the inkjet head 34 when not driven. And a wiping unit 131 for wiping the inkjet head 34 by manual operation or the like.
[0034]
Each means of the ink jet printer 1 is controlled by the controller 11, and the controller 11 controls the entire ink jet printer 1 to perform image printing and tape feeding on the printing tape A under predetermined printing conditions and tape feeding conditions. ing.
[0035]
Although the respective constituent devices of the ink jet printer 1 have been briefly described above, the head unit 31 according to the present invention will be described in detail below.
[0036]
The head unit 31 is supported by a support bracket 32 (bracket member) fixed to a slider (not shown) mounted on an XY movement mechanism 42, and is unified with a plurality of inkjet heads 34 arranged in an aligned manner. A carriage (head plate) 33 and a box-shaped carriage holder 35 (plate holder) for holding the unified carriage 33 are provided. The carriage holder 35 incorporates an adjustment mechanism for finely adjusting the paper gaps of the plurality of inkjet heads 34 via the unified carriage 33 (details will be described later).
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 4, the unified carriage 33 includes a carriage body 45 and a carriage support frame 46. Mounted on the carriage body 45 are four partial carriages 37 on which a plurality of inkjet heads 34 having a number of ink nozzles formed on the lower surface are mounted. Three ink jet heads 34 are attached to each partial carriage 37 side by side, and a total of twelve ink jet heads 34 are aligned on the carriage body 45. In addition, each inkjet head 34 mounted on each partial carriage 37 projects a main body portion on which ink nozzles are formed downward from the unified carriage 33, and this main body portion is disposed so as to face the ink nozzle row group. Centrally located in the center. The carriage support frame 46 has two openings, and the carriage main body 45 is mounted and fixed so that the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 34 come to the openings. The carriage support frame 46 is bent at right and left ends at right angles (folded portion: 47) to form a portion supported by a carriage holder 35 described later.
[0038]
The carriage holder 35 includes both side plates 38 that support the unified carriage 33, and a back plate 39 that is supported by the support bracket 32 and passed to both side plates 33. The carriage support frame 46 also serves as a bottom plate of the carriage holder 35.
[0039]
The support bracket 32 is integrally formed in a horizontal T shape with a vertical support portion 40 that supports the back plate 39 of the carriage holder 35 and a horizontal support portion 41 that is fixed to a slider (not shown). A pipe support plate that supports a tube 172 that supplies ink to the head unit 31 is supported on the upper surface of the horizontal support portion 41.
[0040]
The head unit 31 described above includes a first adjustment mechanism, a second adjustment mechanism, and a third adjustment mechanism that adjust the support posture and position of the unified carriage 33. The first adjustment mechanism adjusts the inclination (tilt) of the unified carriage 33 in the front-rear direction (X axis center), and the second adjustment mechanism adjusts the inclination of the unified carriage 33 in the lateral direction (Y axis center). .
By providing the first and second adjustment mechanisms, the ink nozzles and the printing object can be adjusted to face each other in parallel via the unified carriage 33. The third adjustment mechanism allows the unified carriage 33 to be slidably adjusted in the vertical direction, and enables paper gap adjustment in accordance with the thickness of the print object and ink permeability.
[0041]
Now, the first adjustment mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The first adjustment mechanism is an attitude position adjustment mechanism for the unified carriage 33 formed between the carriage support frame 46 and both side plates 38. In the first adjustment mechanism, the unified carriage 33 is fixed to both side plates 38 by the first knock pin 50 and the first fixing screw 53, and a large number of ink nozzles formed on the lower surface of the unified carriage 33 are parallel to the printing object. The posture of the unified carriage 33 with respect to the front-rear direction (X axis center) can be adjusted so as to be positioned. In the first adjustment mechanism, the first knock pin 50 is driven in the center of the both bent portions 47 of the carriage support frame 46 and the carriage support portions of the side plates 38 (FIG. 6A), and the first knock pin 50 is the center. The unified carriage 33 is supported so as to be tiltable with respect to both side plates 38. In order to maintain the posture of the unified carriage 33, the first screw holes 52 are provided at two places on the left and right sides of the double bent portion 47, a total of four places, and the left and right places are provided on the carriage support portion corresponding to the first screw holes 52. A total of four first long holes 51 are provided and fixed with first fixing screws 53. In the first adjustment mechanism, the carriage support frame 46 can be finely adjusted to an arbitrary inclination position within the range of the first oblong holes on both side plates 38.
[0042]
Next, the second adjustment mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. The second adjustment mechanism is a posture position adjustment mechanism for the unified carriage 33 formed between the back plate 39 and the vertical support portion 40 of the support bracket 32. The second adjustment mechanism uses the second knock pin 54 and the second fixing screw 57 to support the back plate 39 and the vertical support portion 40 of the support bracket 32, so that the posture of the unified carriage 33 in the lateral direction (Y-axis center). To be adjusted. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, the second knock pin 54 is driven into the center of the vertical support portion 40 of the back plate 39 and the support bracket 32 so that the back plate 39 can rotate with respect to the support bracket 32. In order to fix the rotationally adjusted position of the back plate 39, the back plate 39 has four second screw holes 56 at equal intervals on the circumference around the second knock pin 54. The vertical support portion is provided with four second long holes 55 corresponding to the second screw holes 56, and the back plate 39 is fixed at an arbitrary rotational position within the range of the second long holes 55. .
[0043]
The third adjusting mechanism is interposed between the upper part of the side plate 38 and the upper part of the back plate 39 (FIG. 8B), and as shown in FIG. 8C, a pair of screws per left and right (adjustment screws). 58, a set screw 59, and a receiving member 60 for the screw 58 per degree. The third adjustment mechanism can perform an appropriate paper gap adjustment by sliding the side plate 38 with respect to the back plate 39 in the vertical direction. The joint portions of the back plates 39 of both side plates 38 are formed in a convex shape, and are engaged with the joint portions of the concave side plates 38 formed on the back plate 39 so as to be vertically slidable. When the screw 58 is rotated per pair of left and right, the side plate 38 slides up and down with respect to the back plate 39, and both the side plates 38 are fixed to the back plate at the slide position by the set screw 59. (See Figure 8)
[0044]
As another embodiment, in the third adjustment mechanism, the side plate 38 may be configured to slide up and down with respect to the vertical support portion 40 of the support bracket 32. A slide plate that can slide up and down is interposed between the vertical support portion 40 of the support bracket 32 and the back plate 38, and both side plates 38 are slid up and down through the slide plate. The slide is adjusted with a screw 58 per degree and fixed with a set screw 59 as in the above-described embodiment.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the ink-jet recording apparatus of the present invention, since a plurality of ink-jet heads can be set with the front, rear, left and right tilts being finely adjusted, all the ink-jet heads, strictly speaking, the paper gaps in all the discharge nozzles. Can be finely adjusted to be the same. In this state, since the plurality of inkjet heads can be slid in the vertical direction, the paper gap can be finely adjusted appropriately according to the print target portion. Therefore, ink-like flight bending (oblique ejection) and variations in the landing diameter can be prevented, and the print quality can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view from the back side of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment with a part thereof omitted.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a moving operation of the head unit.
FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a unified carriage.
5A is an external perspective view of the head unit, and FIG. 5B is an external perspective view of the head unit, and FIG. 5B is an external perspective view of the head unit viewed from below.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a first adjustment mechanism. (A) It is a cross-sectional view of a head unit. (B) It is sectional drawing which cut the head unit by BB shown to Fig.6 (a) figure.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a second adjustment mechanism. (A) It is a front view of a head unit. (B) It is sectional drawing which cut the head unit by AA shown in Fig.7 (a).
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a third adjustment mechanism. (A) It is a cross-sectional view of a head unit. (B) It is the figure which looked at the head unit from the back front. (C) It is an enlarged view of an adjustment mechanism.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer 2 Machine stand 3 Finisher 4 Tape feed path 5 Print means 6 Tape supply means 7 Tape feed means 8 Tape winding means 9 Ink supply means 10 Maintenance means 31 Head unit 32 Support bracket 33 Unified carriage 34 Inkjet head 35 Carriage holder 37 Partial carriage 38 Side plate 39 Back plate 40 Vertical support portion 41 Horizontal support portion 45 Carriage body 46 Carriage support frame 50 First knock pin 51 First elongated hole 52 First screw hole 53 First fixing screw 54 Second knock pin 55 Second Slot 56 Second screw hole 57 Second fixing screw 58 screw per degree 59 Set screw 60 Receiving member

Claims (5)

A plurality of inkjet heads facing the print object set horizontally;
A head plate on which the plurality of inkjet heads are arranged and arranged; and
A plate holder for supporting the head plate;
A bracket member for supporting the plate holder;
A first adjustment mechanism interposed between the head plate and the plate holder, capable of tilting the head plate relative to the plate holder and capable of being fixed at an arbitrary tilting position;
A second adjustment mechanism that is interposed between the plate holder and the bracket member, and capable of tilting the plate holder with respect to the bracket member and capable of being fixed at an arbitrary tilting position;
The first adjustment mechanism tilts the head plate, and the second adjustment mechanism tilts the head plate via the plate holder, one about the X-axis center and the other about the Y-axis center. Inkjet recording device. The head plate has a plate body that holds the plurality of inkjet heads, a plate support frame that has an opening, and the plate body is mounted and fixed so that the ink nozzles of the inkjet head come to the opening. Consists of
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first adjustment mechanism is interposed between the plate support frame and the plate holder. The head plate is formed in a square shape, and the plate holder includes a pair of left and right side plates that hold the head plate at a lower end, and a back plate that is spanned between the side plates and supported by the bracket member. Have
The first adjusting mechanism includes a pair of pins that pass between the center positions of the left and right end faces of the plate support frame and the lower ends of the side plates, and screws that fix the plate support frame to the side plates. Consists of
3. The second adjustment mechanism is configured by a pin that passes between a center position of the back plate and the bracket member, and a screw that fixes the back plate to the bracket member. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to 1. The plate holder has a pair of left and right side plates that hold the head plate at a lower end portion, and a back plate that is spanned between the side plates and supported by the bracket member,
A third adjusting mechanism interposed between the back plate and the side plates, further slidable in the vertical direction with respect to the back plate and fixed at an arbitrary sliding position; The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3.   The third adjusting mechanism includes a slide convex portion formed on each side plate and extending in a vertical direction, a pair of guide concave portions formed on the back plate and slidably engaged with the both slide convex portions, and the back plate. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: an adjustment screw that slides the both side plates and a screw that fixes the both side plates to the back plate.

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